Georgia O'Keeffe began spending summers in New Mexico in 1929. These recurring visits marked a major development in her artistic life and deepened her connection with the region.
She had first visited New Mexico in 1917, but the later summer stays gave her sustained access to the landscapes she would repeatedly paint. She worked around Taos, Abiquiú, and Ghost Ranch, producing images of cliffs, churches, bones, and desert plants.
The trips also broadened her subject matter beyond the flowers and New York scenes that had already made her well known. New Mexico offered an environment whose architecture, geology, and light could support both recognizable images and highly simplified forms.
A useful distinction is that 1917 refers to her first visit, while 1929 refers to the beginning of regular summer stays. O'Keeffe eventually made New Mexico her permanent home base.